Back
by RoyStealer
Summary: One-Shot: A short view into what would happen if Orihime brought Ulquiorra back after his fight with Ichigo.


He jerked back and forth, the newfound beating in his chest wracking his body. He had felt nothing like this in hundreds of years. Nothing else mattered. All there was, all there is, is the black void surrounding him, and the beating of his... heart.

His heart.

He could feel. The pounding that had been lost to him for centuries had returned.

Why?

What had he done to receive this utter pain? This sensation... It felt as though someone was repeatedly hitting him on the chest.

Yet he had never felt so alive.

He slowly opened his eyes. The sound of the woman crying filled his ears, making his heart hurt even worse. Why was that woman crying?

"Ulquiorra!" desperately cried the woman.

He turned his head slightly, and looked at her. She was a mess, covered in dust and debris, her dress torn and hair matted with blood and dust. She looked as though she had crawled from the very depths of hell, and had somehow made it back. But very obviously not in one piece. Sure, she wasn't actually physically damaged, but emotional damage was written all over her desperate crying face.

"Woman, why are you crying?" he whispered, ever so lightly.

Orihime gasped, and wiped the tears off her eyes. Ulquiorra had spoken to her. Ulquiorra was back.

Ulquiorra was back!

After many hours of using her Sōten Kisshun, Ulquiorra had returned. It was a gamble in even the most optimistic of minds. From a pile of dust, she had envisioned the Espada and worked to reject the events that had happened during the fight between him and Ichigo. During these long hours, she had alost given up hope, thinking that she may have lost her captor. And it had scared her.

When she first arrived in Hueco Mundo, all she could think of was Ichigo coming and saving her from this wretched world. She wouldn't have even minded if Ichigo killed Ulquiorra then (not that she wished death on anyone). But as time flew by she fell into the routine laid down for her by Ulquiorra. He was almost always kind (except for a few exceptions), and never treated her poorly. He even saved her from attacks by the other Espada. She knew his excuse was that Aizen had told him to take care of her, but she also knew that he was doing more than he had to.

With falling into this ritual, she grew from hating her life in Hueco Mundo to being absolutely content. More than once she would find herself entranced with her conversations between herself and the Cuarto Espada, forgetting the outside world and her friends that would inevitably come to get her. Never before had she felt so comfortable than her time here.

When she once again came face to face with Ichigo Kurosaki, she forgot about those conversations with the Cuarto Espada, and longed to be back in Karakura with her friends. She watched the battle between Ulquiorra and Ichigo, and became ever more frightened. Not by the fighting, she had gotten over that fear in the Soul Society. But as the battle neared the end, she realized she was going to lose one of her friends. And she realized through that thought, that she considered Ulquiorra a friend now. He meant something to her.

As Ichigo stabbed Ulquiorra for the final time, she found herself running toward the fallen Espada, reaching out just a millisecond too late.

He was fading. And fast. Turning to dust before her eyes.

As he reached his hand toward her and disappeared, she knew she had to do something. With her last effort, she summoned her fairies, and started bringing Ulquiorra back to life. For what seemed like eons, nothing happened. The dust stayed dust. But slowly, she began to see the silhouette of the Espada. But even as he slowly came back, he seemed lifeless, no movement to be seen at all. Finally, she felt the power leave her. Nothing more could be done. He was there, but he wasn't moving. Not even a breath could be heard.

And she broke down.

She started bawling. Absolute and utter hopelessness gripped her, and she was wracked through her whole body. He was never coming back. She would never see Ulquiorra again.

It was over.

Gone.

Done.

And then she heard it: "Woman, why are you crying?"

Elation rushed through her.

"Ulquiorra! I-is it really you?"

"Who else?" he responded, "Woman, I asked why you were crying?"

Never had he seen her in such disarray. Not even over her "beloved" Ichigo. He wondered just what could have put her in this state.

"O-oh… I…was…I was… I was worried!" she cried.

_Worried?_ He wondered, "About what, woman?" he asked, for the first time feeling _bewilderment._

"That you weren't coming back!"

This time he felt _shock_. She was worried?

When he first met the woman, he found a lovesick puppy, wandering after her so called friend Kurosaki. He almost hated her.

Almost.

Then, he began talking to her. As he spent time with her in Las Noches, he found himself _almost _enjoying the conversations with her. He found himself _almost_ wondering about her and this tie called friendship. He thought about what this heart she talked about might be. He had never seen this inner heart she talked about, these binding ties between people. Before this, he had not even considered its existence. Now, he _almost_ wanted it.

As he fought Ichigo Kurosaki, he began to recount all the feelings he _almost_ had. And as he got closer to winning, he began to dismiss them all as just fickle matters of a human.

But then Kurosaki came back. And won.

As he faded, he realized the "heart" he had been pondering this whole time was right in front of him. He saw the woman, Orihime Inoue reaching forwards. There was his heart.

As he pulled out of the void, he saw the woman crying. This time, he didn't _almost_ feel.

He felt.

Horrible.

But in total bliss at the same time. With bringing back his body, she also brought back his heart, something he had lost hundreds of years ago. And not just his physical heart, but the inner heart, the feelings.

"But, I'm here." he whispered. "I will be here. You don't have to worry ever again."

The heart. He had found it. And he was determined to keep it.

Orihime Inoue. His Heart.


End file.
